Meskel - The Finding of the True Cross - Sept 28th
Meskel (the finding of the true cross) falls on 28th September each year and has been celebrated in Ethiopia for over 1,600 years. The word Meskel means “Cross” and the feast commemorates the discovery of the cross (upon which Jesus was crucified).
Meskel
In my country, Ethiopia, there is a big holiday celebrated every year which is called Meskel. Meskel is celebrated very much by the Gurage people (a tribe in Ethiopia). Gurage people are very hard working people who are involved in trading and low income self employment jobs. Meskel is a good holiday in that everybody in the family has to get together and celebrate for three to five days every year. The bad side of this holiday is that people spend a lot of money buying cattle, clothes and drinks. Every family member come to their parents’ houses and prepare different types of traditional food such as Kitfo, Kocho, Gomen kitfo and raw meat. Everybody enjoys eating the cultural foods. Kitfo is minced beef mixed with a lot of melted and salted butter and ground red pepper. Kitfo is one of the most traditional Ethiopian cuisines. Kocho is bread made of false banana. Gomen kitfo is minced cabbage with butter and ground red pepper. For this holiday every family member comes to their parent’s home five to three days earlier.
